


14/11/19: stubborn as hell

by excelsi_or



Series: to a boy i love right now [18]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:28:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24168127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/excelsi_or/pseuds/excelsi_or
Summary: Mingyu calls to ask her to bring Jihoon home since the man hasn't left the studio in a few days.
Relationships: Lee Jihoon | Woozi/Original Female Character(s)
Series: to a boy i love right now [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1252010
Kudos: 7





	14/11/19: stubborn as hell

_November 14_

In the middle of typing up her ecological term paper, her phone starts ringing. Seungkwan looks up from his end of the table and frowns.

“Who’s calling you?”

She shakes her head and flips the phone over, not missing a beat on her keyboard. As she glances at it, she stops. “Mingyu.”

“Why’s he calling you?” Seungkwan asks.

She shrugs. Not that she and Mingyu haven’t become great friends, but with the end of the semester looming, the friends they have who are still in school have declined nearly every opportunity to hang out the past two weeks. Wondering if it’s an emergency, she answers.

“Noona,” Mingyu starts as a greeting.

“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

Mingyu hums. “ _I’m_ okay, but is hyung staying at your place?”

She leans back in her seat and brushes a stray hair out of her face. “I haven’t seen Ji in two weeks. He texted me this morning though. Why? Is he not home?”

Mingyu groans. “He hasn’t been home in a few days.”

“Are you just assuming he’s at work?”

“Well, yeah. Hyung used to do this thing in school where if he was really busy, he just wouldn’t come home.”

She remembers Mingyu and Wonwoo mentioning it on enough occasions to know that it had been an issue. One that their professor had had to talk to him about. She’s never known him to do it, so she assumed that he stopped doing it.

Mingyu continues. “I don’t know where else he would be. If it’s not home and he’s not with you, where else would he go? It’s not like we’re fighting.”

 _What’s going on?_ Seungkwan mouths to her, taking this call as an opportunity to take a break.

 _Something about Jihoon_ , she mouths back. “Do you want me to go check on him? Have you gone to the studio?”

“I was just about to go,” Mingyu says. “But maybe it’s better if you go. He’ll listen to you.”

She looks back at her paper, which isn’t due until next week. She glances over her shoulder at the dark sky then turns to Seungkwan. “Sure, I’ll go and see what’s going on.”

“Great, thanks noona.”

“Text you when I’ve talked to him.” She hangs up and addresses Seungkwan’s questioning gaze. “What do you say to a short study break?”

Seungkwan throws his arms up in hallelujah. “Yes! Where are we going?”

“We’re going to go to the company building and see if we can get Jihoon to go home.”

“How are we going to get in?” Seungkwan glances at the time on his phone. “It’s like 10:30. It’s not locked?”

She smirks. “Ji gave me a key a few months back.”

“You have a key to the company?”

She holds a finger to her lips as she gets up to grab her key ring and wallet. She throws a jacket over Jihoon’s sweater, pulls on a pair of thicker socks and meets Seungkwan at the door. The man is already in his shoes, ready to bolt out the door.

“It’ll be good to get a break,” Seungkwan says, stretching his arms over his head.

She chuckles. “How’s Hansol?” She straightens and follows him down the hall to the elevator. “I know you’ve been texting him non-stop all night.”

Seungkwan nods. “He’s been bouncing lyric ideas off me. Apparently, he and Mingyu hyung are stumped for lyrics. Guess without Jihoon hyung, lyrics don’t flow as well.”

“They’re working with a new musical production student, right?” They climb into the elevator, continuing their conversation about Hansol and the new rearrangements in the music department as they ride the bus to Jihoon’s company.

Seungkwan stares at the building as they approach. “It’s smaller than I thought.”

She chuckles, digging for the key in her pocket. “You thought Ji got into a big company right off the bat?” She peers in to make sure the alarm is green and lets them inside. She’d noticed one band of light coming from the third floor where Jihoon’s studio is located. “None of the acts coming out of here are very big, but he gets his own studio.”

Seungkwan nods, impressed. They take the elevator up to the third floor and she looks both ways as they step out, reorienting herself. It’s been well over a month since she’s dropped in on one of Jihoon’s late night studio sessions. She hangs a left and inspects every door and finds the line of recording rooms. The middle one is Jihoon’s.

“I’m gonna wander around. Let me know when you’re ready to go.” Seungkwan looks around and heads down the hallway towards the practice rooms. She knocks twice on Jihoon’s door and pokes her head in.

Surrounding the man are various takeout cups. If he’s been eating from these takeout restaurants, there are no signs of them. At least he’s been leaving the studio to throw his garbage out. He has his headphones on as he stares at a screen with moving parts. She waits until there’s a pause in their movement before interrupting him, understanding his process by now.

“Ji,” she says a bit louder so he can hear her through the headphones.

Jihoon spins around his chair and stares at her wide-eyed. His eyes are bloodshot with light shadows developing underneath them. “Jagi?”

“Hi.” She stays near the door, not expecting this to take long.

“What are you doing here?”

She explains the phone call with Mingyu. “How long have you been here?”

“I don’t know.” Jihoon searches for his phone and calculates back the days. “3 days now.”

She looks down at the small couch against the wall. It’s so much smaller than the couch in his old studio on campus. That will explain all the ‘my back hurts’ texts she’s been getting. “So do you think you should come home then?”

Jihoon shakes his head and motions towards the screen. “I have a few songs I want to finish here.”

“Ji, you’re going to burn out.”

“It’s fine. Once these are done, I’ll go home and sleep.”

“But isn’t your brain tired? Have you been sleeping properly? Have you been eating?”

“The others go out to eat and bring me back stuff. I’ve been eating.”

She nods her head slowly. “But—”

“I’ve been getting my eight hours. I’ve been eating. I’ve even had time to text you,” Jihoon interrupts. “I don’t see a problem. I’ll go home when I’m finished.”

“Why are you the only one still here?”

Jihoon shakes his head, brushing off that question. “I’m fine.”

“Ji, Mingyu is worried that you aren’t coming home.”

“I’ll text him where I am.” Irritation is starting to trickle into his voice. She tries not to let it get to her, because she knows it’s a combination of the lack of quality sleep, the shitty food, and the stress that are making him irritable.

She pushes still. “Ji, I’m worried too. Can’t you at the very least go home tonight and come back early? At least to sleep in your own bed and have breakfast with Gyu.”

“I’m _fine_ ,” he enunciates. “You don’t have to take care of me. I can take care of myself.”

She nods her head, understanding that he’s going to be stubborn as hell. “Fine.” She ducks out of the studio and goes to get him a glass of water. She returns to the studio and sets it by his elbow. Jihoon stares at it as if he doesn’t know what a glass of water looks like.

“Drink it and I’ll leave.”

“Jagi, I _told you—_ ”

“Yes, that you can take care of yourself. I get it.” Her own irritation is apparent now. They scowl at each other. “Drink it for my peace of mind and I’ll leave, Jihoon.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes, but downs the entire glass in front of her. “Happy?”

She shrugs. Up close, his thick hair is greasy at its roots, matted from where his headphones have been sitting. She notices the black cap next to him. Her tongue runs along her bottom lip, but she says nothing. “I’m gonna go then. You’re apparently fine.”

“I’m fine,” he repeats.

The constant repetition suggests he’s not fine, but he can take care of himself. “Okay.” She squeezes his wrist. “See you.”

As she nears the door, Jihoon tosses a “love you” in her direction. She tosses one back and closes the door behind her. “Seungkwanie!” she calls.

Seungkwan bounds towards her from wherever he’d disappeared to. He looks around. “Where’s hyung?”

She shakes her head. “He’s gonna stay here.”

“But—”

“He can take care of himself, so let’s go.”

Seungkwan hears the frustration in her voice and doesn’t push. “Are you going to text Gyu?”

“Ji said he would, but yeah, I will when we get home.”


End file.
